Chestnuts have been for centuries a valuable resource for the
survival of the population living in many areas of Asia, South Europe, North
Africa and of most countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The nuts of
Castanea sativa in Europe and of C.mollissima and C.
crenata in Asia, were "daily bread" and dried, store food for the whole
year. The trees furnished fuelwood, building timber and wood products for many
crafts. In North America C. dentata, a forest giant, was a dominant
species in the broad-leaves forests before blight destroyed it.

At present, both European and Oriental chestnuts are no longer
a source for subsistence but continue to play an important role in many
agroforestry systems in food, timber and landscape strategies for the new
millennium.

Many countries around the world have potential areas, where
soil and climatic parameters could be appropriate for plantations.

East Asian production continues to increase and new orchards
have been established in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, due
to high retail price for quality nuts and processed products.

To improve the cultivation and to maintain the existing
agroforestry systems, many problems have to be solved, such as:

conservation of
genetic diversity and the existing valuable germplasm;

obtention of new cultivars for
superior nut and timber production, resistant to major pests and
diseases;

improvement of the valuable
propagation methods; and

control of ink disease, canker
blight and major insects damaging the species.

The promotion of an Inventory of Chestnut Research, Germplasm
and References, began in the first years of the activities of the FAO-CIHEAM
INTERREGIONAL COOPERATIVE RESEARCH NETWORK ON NUTS and a wealth of information
has been gathered from the most important Institutions worldwide involved in
chestnut.

The Inventory presents the state-of-the-art of the research in
progress, of the germplasm collected by different institutions and of the
researchers involved in chestnut, with the aim of defining the constraints and
possibilities of this resource and to join efforts to implement mutual
cooperation.